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In Dickey's last start, lineup more offensive-minded

In Dickey's last start, lineup more offensive-minded

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MIAMI -- Throughout R.A. Dickey's run toward 20 wins and a potential National League Cy Young Award, the Mets have looked to help him in whatever ways possible. But their strategy has changed along the way.

Rather than bolster the defense behind Dickey by using Jason Bay in left field, as he has done previously, manager Terry Collins proceeded with a more offensive-minded lineup Tuesday against the Marlins. Lucas Duda played left field and Scott Hairston manned right, with Andres Torres -- by far the best defender of that trio, capable of making up ground on either side of him -- in center.

The idea was that a little extra thump in the lineup could only help Dickey, even if his Cy Young resume is more dependent upon ERA than anything at this point.

"We just weren't scoring," Collins said. "It wasn't Jason's fault, but we weren't scoring so we tried to do a combination of being able to put some offense out there, and yet put a team out there that can catch."